Designed under the supervision of German Wolfgang Egger—former designer for Audi and Lamborghini—the Seal has the same Ocean X design. It also happens to ride on the BYD e-Platform 3.0. However, unlike previous models that use the same platform, this one’s been turned effectively around with the driven wheels and motor location being at the back.

With the rear-engine, rear-wheel drive architecture, you can pretty much guess how BYD is positioning the Seal.

Though BYD Cars Philippines has yet to confirm any specs, globally, the Camry-sized Seal comes with either a 61.4-kWh or 82.5-kWh BYD Blade Battery. The lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery should be enough to give it anywhere between 460 to 700 kilometers of range, depending on the engine.

Moreover, the batteries are also integral to the structure of the vehicle. The Cell-To-Body or CTB means that the Seal has a strong sandwich structure that helps it achieve the torsional rigidity akin to luxury cars.

The base model uses a single motor with 201 horsepower and 310 Nm of torque giving a 0 to 100 km/h time of just 7.5 seconds. On the other end, the performance version puts out a combined 523 horsepower (215 horsepower at the front and 308 horsepower at the back) and 670 Nm of torque. This one rockets to 100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds—about as fast as a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N or even the MG Cyberster.

With an 800-volt architecture, it can juice up from 30 to 80 percent in just 26 minutes. It can also charge up to 11-kW at home using an appropriate AC charger.

A finalist for the 2024 World Car of the Year, the Seal has the same sort of features seen in other BYD models such as the rotating infotainment screen (up to 15.6 inches), integrated front bucket seats, and a panoramic sunroof. Unique features to the Seal include the possibility of having a 53-liter front trunk (frunk) on top of the large 400-liter rear trunk.

The BYD Seal will make its Philippine debut on October 25 at the 2024 Philippine EV Summit.